12.1.1 @float [type][,label]: Floating Material

To produce floating material, enclose the material you want to be
displayed separate between @float and @end float
commands, on lines by themselves.

Floating material often uses @image to display an
already-existing graphic (see Images), or @multitable to
display a table (see Multi-column Tables). However, the contents
of the float can be anything. Here’s an example with simple text:

@float Figure,fig:ex1
This is an example float.
@end float

And the output:

This is an example float.

Figure 12.1

As shown in the example, @float takes two arguments (separated
by a comma), type and label. Both are optional.

type

Specifies the sort of float this is; typically a word such as
“Figure”, “Table”, etc. If this is not given, and label is,
any cross referencing will simply use a bare number.

label

Specifies a cross reference label for this float. If given, this
float is automatically given a number, and will appear in any
@listoffloats output (see @listoffloats). Cross
references to label are allowed.

On the other hand, if label is not given, then the float will
not be numbered and consequently will not appear in the
@listoffloats output or be cross-referenceable.

Ordinarily, you specify both type and label, to get a
labeled and numbered float.

In Texinfo, all floats are numbered in the same way: with the chapter
number (or appendix letter), a period, and the float number, which
simply counts 1, 2, 3, …, and is reset at each chapter. Each
float type is counted independently.

Floats within an @unnumbered, or outside of any chapter, are
simply numbered consecutively from 1.